Every week we review the nastiest pitches from the previous week in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back this weekend to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the Second Half Contest, which will be live in November. Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @ThePitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
Felipe Rivero’s Fastball + Changeup – Like many, we’re marveling at what Rivero is able to do on the mound on a nightly basis. A proper introduction would be these two pitches during his at-bat against Anthony Santander. First he painted the corner at 103mph, then followed it up with a Changeup near the same location but 10mph slower. Absurd.
Jeurys Familia’s Fastball – Familia got his chance to close again for the Mets and took advantage of the opportunity, getting the strikeout in a tough jam. He used his classic Sinker that is still riding plenty as it fell from the inside corner into Michael Taylor’s thighs.
Stephen Strasburg’s Changeup – It was business as usual for Strasburg, cruising through the Mets lineup for a Win on Saturday evening. His Changeup is a big reason for his success, here fanning Amed Rosario with a 90mph “slow ball” as it fell off the cliff before arriving at the plate.
Chaz Roe’s Sliders – Roe seems to be featured in the roundup every time he pitches, and for good reason. Roe’s Slider reminds me of the Jeff Nelson’s frisbee like Slider from the late nineties. These two Sliders leave Matt Holliday and Clint Frazier swinging at air.
Aaron Nola’s Fastball + Curveball – Monday marked the final start of the 2017 season for Nola, and he went out with guns blazing, fanning nine Nationals hitters across six frames. His Fastball and Curveball have turned heads the entire year, and both were on display last night. First is a 95mph heater that runs back to the outside corner to Ryan Zimmerman, followed by a Curveball that never stopped dropping to Trea Turner – both pitches that we couldn’t leave off today’s roundup.
Yu Darvish’s Slider – Darvish does a great job of avoiding bats with his Slide piece, but also changing its speed to suit his needs. Here, he wanted to get an extra bit of sweeping action against Yangervis Solarte and it was a beauty at a 87mph.
Blake Treinen’s Slider – We love to feature Treinen in these roundups, and I don’t think anyone blames us when he gets this much depth on his Slider at 87mph. Pitches like these that make us wonder who he gives up any Earned Runs at all.
Blake Treinen’s Fastball – It’s tough to understand why the Nationals traded away Treinen when he such ridculous movement at a high velocity. We’ve featured Treinen’s Two-seamer before, and it deserves mentioning again on this pitch to Drew Robinson. Crazy side to side movement.
Kyle Barraclough’s Slider – “Bear Claw” didn’t throw his out pitch Slider much last night, but it was extremely effective when he did. Few Sliders have the depth that Barraclough gets on the pitch here, and Adonis Garcia was stamped with a big K.
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the Second Half Contest.
[polldaddy poll=9841903]